


Yesterday's Future

by AlexIsOkay



Series: "Tempo, Beat, Break" Universe Fics [4]
Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 13:59:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18874615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexIsOkay/pseuds/AlexIsOkay
Summary: Dia and Kanan haven't had a night off in months, so You and Eli offer to take their daughter off their hands for an evening.This fic is a oneshot followup to my mutli-chapter Eli/You fic "Tempo, Breat, Break," which can be found here:https://archiveofourown.org/works/16050167/chapters/37470785Some elements won't make sense if you haven't read it, so it's strongly recommended you check that out first.





	Yesterday's Future

“And you’re sure you have everything?”

“Yes, Dia, we have everything.”

“But you’re positive? You’re sure you checked?”

“We both checked. Three times.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to check a-”

“Dia,” Kanan said, coming up behind Dia and putting a hand on her wife’s shoulder. “They know what they’re doing. You can relax.” Kanan and Dia were currently standing in the doorway to their home, facing You and Eli- and, of course, Kanan and Dia’s daughter Kotone as well. You and Eli were back in Uchiura for a few days, You having decided that her girlfriend still didn’t know nearly enough about the town she had grown up in. Eli had gotten a bit of a taste for the area when they had returned earlier in the summer for Chika and Riko’s wedding, but that whole weekend had been so jam-packed and hectic that You hadn’t really gotten the chance to give Eli the proper tour, and now she was excited to do that. Somehow, however, what was supposed to be a little vacation for them had turned into a night of babysitting.

You didn’t completely mind that, and honestly she figured Kanan and Dia could use the night off more than she could anyway. Not to mention, she still hadn’t gotten to spend any real amount of time around Kotone, and it was starting to get to the point where it seemed a bit strange that she didn’t know her friend’s daughter. Even if Kotone was, admittedly, still young enough that she didn’t really know anyone, or anything. She barely even seemed to understand what was going on around her most of the time.

Kotone was at the age where she was just starting to become frighteningly mobile, which was something Dia had warned You about quite a bit ahead of time. At the moment You had a tight grip on Kotone, holding the fourteen-month-old up against her shoulder while she and Eli tried to rush Dia and Kanan out of the house so that they could finally enjoy their date night. Kanan seemed all too eager to get out of the house as well, though Dia was still having a hard time letting go of her paranoid motherhood.

“Alright,” Dia said. “My phone number is on the fridge, along with Kanan’s, and the phone number of the restaurant we’re going to, and Kotone’s pediatrician. If _anything_ happens don’t hesitate to give us a call, and we’ll come back home right-”

“Dia-san,” Eli interrupted, offering Dia a smile that she hoped would come across as warm and reassuring. “We’ll be alright. You two just go out and enjoy your date night, okay?” As Eli said that Dia seemed to forget whatever sentence she was in the middle of, and she simply stared back at Eli for a few seconds, mind seeming to go blank. Even this much later she was still having a hard time dealing with the fact that she was looking at _the_ Eli Ayase, the one she’d harbored an intensely embarrassing crush on back in middle school and high school, and apparently she was having an even harder time dealing with the realization that _the_ Eli Ayase was going to be taking care of her daughter tonight. That was probably more exciting to her than the thought of finally having a night alone with her wife again.

“R-Right,” she finally managed to say, nodding sheepishly and maintaining eye contact with Eli for just a little bit too long. “Well then, we’ll- We’ll be on our way.”

“Have fun! Don’t get into any trouble out there!” You said, flashing a wink towards Kanan.

“Don’t worry,” Kanan replied, tossing an arm around her wife’s shoulders. “I’ll keep an eye on her. Thanks again for this, we’ll see you guys later tonight. Bye Kotone!” With that Kanan started to leave the house, half-dragging Dia out towards the driveway with her as she went. The door swung shut behind them, and You watched them disappear through the crack before she turned back towards Eli, still holding the baby up against her torso.

“So…” she said. “Looks like we’re officially on duty now. What, uh… What are we supposed to do?”

“Have you babysat a child before?” Eli asked, chuckling softly.

“I babysat a little bit when I was back in high school,” You replied. “For my neighbor’s kids. But they were like… Six or seven back then? A lot older than Kotone. So this feels a lot different. You’re not secretly some kinda baby expect, are you?”

“I babysat for Kotori a few times, especially when her daughter was younger,” Eli replied. “But I wouldn’t exactly consider myself an expert on the subject. Even though I’m starting to feel like one, after all those speeches Dia-san made us sit through.”

“Yeahhhhh, she can be kinda intense,” You laughed back, before looking down towards the baby in her arms. Kotone was looking back up at her, though with a child of that age it was hard to tell what, if anything, was actually on their mind at any given moment. After looking up at her for a few seconds, however, Kotone started to giggle, and You couldn’t help but giggle back when she saw that. “Man, can you believe this little gal is really Dia’s daughter?” She asked. “I swear she’s already laughing more than I’ve seen Dia laugh in her entire life.”

“That’s the miracle of adoption,” Eli replied, stepping a little bit closer to You, looking down at the baby alongside her. “She really is adorable, though.”

“Dia and Kanan have a whole playpen set up in the living room,” You said. “You wanna go play with her for a little bit before we try to put her down for bed?”

“Sure,” Eli replied. “I would love to.” With another small smile she started to follow You towards the living room, and into a space that was very clearly designed with a child in mind. The entire living room was a mess of baby toys, scattered all over the floor, with a penned in area against one of the walls (though the toys definitely weren’t confined to just that small area). Seeing the house in a state like this really was proof to You of just how much motherhood must have been exhausting Dia: the student council president she had once known never would have tolerated such a messy living space. But apparently, as soon as a baby came into the picture, all of that went out the window. You couldn’t really say she blamed Dia for that.

“Alright, Kotone,” You said, crouching down to set the child down on the floor. “What do you wanna play with?” As Kotone reached the ground she actually ended up on her feet, even though she didn’t exactly look stable, and both Eli and You watched for a moment or two before Kotone stumbled forward and then, almost immediately, went tumbling to the ground.

“Well… It was something, right?” Eli asked.

“Something, yeah,” You snickered back. “From the way Dia talked about her I was kinda expecting her to be running all over the place. Now I’m gonna be surprised if she makes it more than three steps at a time.”

“Maybe she’s trying to get us to lower our guard,” Eli replied. “Children can be sneaky like that.”

“Somehow I don’t think we’re dealing with a criminal mastermind here, babe.” You’s belief was reinforced as she watched Kotone attempt to stand back up, trying a few more times to toddle her way over towards her toys, though while it did take a few attempts and a few tumbles she did eventually manage to get there. You couldn’t help but laugh a little bit at that, and Eli seemed amused, starting to follow Kotone across the floor.

“What are you going to play with?” she asked, voice shifting into a tone that You honestly wasn’t used to hearing out of her. It wasn’t that strange, and You was pretty sure everyone in the world tended to take on a different voice when they were talking to children, but it was still a side of her girlfriend she hadn’t seen before. You hung back to watch that for a few more moments, simply observing as Kotone looked through the various toys that were spread out in front of her, before eventually picking up a colorful plastic toy telephone, holding it up to Eli.

“Pho,” she said, which You could assume was her attempt at sounding out the word “phone.”

“Is that for me?” Eli asked, letting out a gasp of mock surprise as she reached out to take it. “Why, thank you very much.”

“Who is it, babe?” You asked.

“Hang on,” Eli replied. “Let me check.” She held the phone up to hear ear for a moment after that, listening for a few seconds before glancing at You again. “It’s Dia-san. She wants to make sure we haven’t burned the house down yet.”

“Don’t even joke about that,” You replied, walking over towards Eli and Kotone. “I guarantee she calls before the end of the night to make sure we didn’t screw anything up.”

“Oh, go easy on her,” Eli said, handing the toy phone back to Kotone, who began to press at the fake buttons on it. “Motherhood has that kind of effect on people. It’s only natural.”

“Believe me, this has nothing to do with motherhood,” You insisted. “She’s always been this way.”

“Then that just means she was ahead of her time.”

“Ahead of her time in having a stick up her-”

“ _Ahem_ ,” Eli interrupted, before You was able to finish that sentence in the presence of a child.

“Right, right,” You laughed sheepishly. “Sorry.”

* * *

The majority of the rest of the evening was spent sitting there in the living room with Kotone, watching the child move between all of the different toys she had to play with. You never really would have thought that Dia would be the sort of person to spoil her child, figuring that she would be a little bit more of a strict parent, wanting to teach lessons about valuing what you had or something like that, but apparently a decent chunk of that Kurosawa fortune had been spent on outfitting Kotone’s playroom. She had enough toys to choose from that it was no wonder the space tended to be such a mess, and You couldn’t help but find some amusement in the fact that motherhood had apparently brought out this side of Dia.

Then again, there was a decent chance all of these toys had been bought for Kotone by Mari, just to antagonize Dia. That actually seemed more likely.

Either way, Eli and You spent a few hours in the living room with Kotone, playing with her and entertaining her. During that time, You couldn’t help but take notice of just how in her element Eli seemed to be while there was a baby around. You didn’t think she herself was _bad_ with kids, by any stretch of the imagination, but Eli seemed like an absolute natural. It almost made You feel like she should have been working in a daycare or something.

“Tea,” Kotone was saying, holding a plastic tea cup out towards Eli.

“Did you make this for me?” Eli replied, prompting the baby to nod. “Thank you, that was very nice of you.” You was just about to crouch down and join in as well, when she realized that her phone was beginning to vibrate in her pocket. She dug it out and looked down at the screen, only to roll her eyes when she realized who was calling her.

“Hey babe,” You said, turning her phone so Eli could see Dia’s picture coming up on her screen. “Told you it would happen.”

“Well hurry up an answer it,” Eli replied. “Don’t make her worry.”

“Believe me, nobody on earth has the power to do that.” After that, however, You did accept the call, holding her phone up to her ear. “Hello?”

“Hello,” Dia’s response came. “It’s Dia.”

“Yeah, I know. I have caller ID,” You snickered. “Everyone has caller ID.”

“Caller ID doesn’t mean we have to forget our manners,” Dia insisted. “Regardless, I was just calling to check in and make sure everything’s alright. You’ve already put Kotone to bed by now, right?”

“Uhh, yeah!” You replied, before shooting a slightly panicked glance at the clock, and then in Eli’s direction. “She’s already sound asleep. Sleeping like a log!”

“And she didn’t give you any trouble?” Dia asked. “You’ve been able to handle her?”

“No trouble at all,” You promised. “She’s been a little angel.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Kanan and I will still be out for a few more hours, but if you need us to come back early for any reason-”

“Dia, relax,” You insisted. “Enjoy your night off. Go pay attention to your wife.”

“I’ll have you know she’s in the restroom right now.”

“Ohhhh, so you snuck this call in when she wasn’t looking.”

“That’s not-”

“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. Later!” And with that You hung the call up before Dia had the chance to respond any further, then turned her attention up to Eli again. “Hey, pop quiz,” she said. “What time did Dia tell us to put Kotone to bed?”

“Eight o’clock, wasn’t it?” Eli asked.

“And what time is it right now?” After You said that Eli leaned back a bit to see into the kitchen, where there was a clock over the stove, simply staring at it for a moment before nodding.

“Right, okay then. Looks like it’s bed time for you, little one,” she said, before reaching down to gently pick Kotone up off the floor. Kotone had been playing with one of her dolls up until that point, though she dropped it fairly easily as Eli lifted her. “Do you still have that checklist Dia-san gave us?”

“Right here,” You replied, digging a folded up piece of paper out of her back pocket. The list was surprisingly thorough, though coming from Dia that was really just a normal amount of thorough. It contained detailed instructions on everything they would need to do to get Kotone to sleep, from instructions on where her pajamas were kept to a list of the bedtime stories that seemed to be the most successful in getting her to pass out. As much as You tended to make fun of Dia for being so uptight and precise about every little thing, she did have to admit that she was thankful for this. She didn’t want to spend half the night running around Dia and Kanan’s house trying to find stuff while Kotone cried in the background.

Eli and You decided to divide and conquer, Eli taking on tasks like brushing Kotone’s teeth or the unenviable mission of changing Kotone’s diaper while You got Kotone’s pajamas out, made up her crib, and selected a suitable bedtime story. When they eventually reconvened Eli laid Kotone down in her crib, and then she and You both sat near the edge of it while Eli started to read the book You had picked out.

At first You was watching Kotone while Eli read, only halfway even paying attention to whatever goofy children’s tale was being spun beside her, though eventually she found her eyes starting to wander over towards her girlfriend instead, and before she even realized it You was watching Eli perhaps just a bit too intently. Once more, she was struck by that sensation that Eli just seemed so _natural_ like this, like there was something about the image of Eli reading a bedtime story to a baby that fit her perfectly. You had always known Eli to have that sort of kind, gentle, mothering personality, and sure she had called her mommy in the bedroom a few times, but acting like the mom friend was still a fair bit different than being in a situation where she actually _looked_ like a mom. It was only once You heard the words “The End” coming from Eli, and realized she was closing the book, that she was snapped out of the fascinated little trance she had fallen into.

“It looks like she’s sound asleep,” Eli whispered, peering down into Kotone’s crib. You followed Eli’s gaze to see that Kotone did in fact appear to have passed out during the story, that her eyes were now closed and she was now breathing in and out softly, looking to be entirely at peace. “Come on. Let’s let her rest.”

“Yeah, alright,” You whispered back, before standing up. Eli followed after her, putting the book back on the shelf before the two of them slipped out of the room, carefully closing the door behind them. They tiptoed down the hall, wanting to make sure they didn’t make any noise that would wake Kotone up, and it was only once they arrived back in the living room that Eli turned to face You, a mischievous little smile on her face.

“So…” she began.

“Soooo?” You replied.

“It’s just the two of us now,” Eli said, stepping closer and placing her hands against You’s hips. “And we’ve got this whole nice house around us. What do you say we ruin some of Dia and Kanan’s nice furniture?”

“Gross,” You snickered, playfully swatting Eli’s hands away. “I don’t think I could get in the mood knowing my friends’ kid is right down the hall.”

“Fair enough,” Eli laughed back, before turning away and walking further into the living room. “Would you rather just take advantage of their enormous TV?”

“God, now _that_ sounds sexy.” You followed Eli the rest of the way into the living room before flopping down onto the couch beside her girlfriend, facing said enormous TV. You didn’t have  TV at all in her apartment, and Eli had a small one, but Dia and Kanan’s absolutely put that one to shame. 72 inches across, it took up the better part of the living room wall, and while You wasn’t even sure what she wanted to watch, she knew she wanted to appreciate the opportunity to bathe in the luxury.

“You pick the channel,” Eli said, tossing the remote over to You. You turned the TV on, nearly blinded by the glow that washed over the whole room, and she flipped through the different channels for a minute or so before she ended up landing on some cooking network.

“This good with you?” she asked.

“Yeah, it looks fun,” Eli replied.

“Cool.” With that You tossed the remote off to the side, before scooting a little bit closer to Eli, so she could curl up against her girlfriend as she watched. And for the first few minutes or so she did watch, loosely following along with whatever recipe the host of the show was taking them through, even thinking it might be a fun thing to try out at some point. Eventually, however, she found her mind starting to wander, focusing less on the TV and more on everything else she’d seen that night. Her thoughts kept going back to Eli, to how natural and at home she’d looked when she was dealing with Kotone, and You’s thoughts also started to circle around just how god damn _weird_ it was that some of the same friends she had grown up with, the same Dia who had once spent an entire afternoon fretting over whether to use black ink or blue for some school paperwork and the same Kanan who had nearly drowned You in a pool when she was five, were _parents_ now. And sure, that wasn’t exactly a new development, but apparently it was still one she was wrestling with, because it also made her look towards the future and realize this was probably only the beginning. Riko and Chika were married now, and while they would probably still enjoy a few years with just the two of them before they started thinking about kids, it was still a very realistic future (and lord help poor Riko when that finally happened, because You had a hard time imagining Chika as the responsible parent). With how happy they seemed together and how long they had been together it was probably only a matter of time before Mari and Ruby got engaged as well, though You was less sure about whether either of them were the sort that would eventually want to become parents. And while Hanamaru and Yoshiko were probably still a fair distance off from having to think about this sort of thing, it would still catch up to them sooner or later.

And then there was You herself, and what did all of this mean for her? She wasn’t sure, and it left her with one obvious question on her mind. A question that she was just about to ask herself, before someone else asked it for her.

“Do you think you’d ever want kids?” The question rattled You from her thoughts rather violently, and she pivoted her head away from the TV to look at Eli, though she found that Eli was still staring at the screen. She had asked the question so casually, so nonchalantly, that for a moment You had to wonder if Eli had even said anything at all, or if she was simply hearing things now. After a moment, however, Eli did turn away from the TV as well, looking over at You with a vaguely curious expression on her face.

“I-” You started to say, though she didn’t get very far on that poorly formulated response before Eli interrupted her, shaking her head.

“Sorry, sorry,” she said. “That’s a hell of a thing to ask you out of nowhere, I know. It’s just on my mind tonight, I suppose.”

“No, it’s alright,” You promised, shaking her own head as well. “I was… Actually just kinda thinking about the same thing.”

“Oh? Were you?” Eli asked.

“Yeah. And to tell you the truth… I’m not really sure,” You admitted. She broke her eyes away from Eli as she said that, though she didn’t look back to the TV either, and instead she just found herself staring down towards her own knees. “Growing up I always kinda figured I’d be like, the cool aunt to all my friends’ kids, y’know? But I don’t think I ever thought that I actually wanted any of my own. Or at least… I guess I didn’t _not_ want them either, but it’s just never something I thought about. I never really saw myself having a family, or being a mom, or anything like that.”

“I see…” Eli said, and You looked back up towards her, only to find that Eli was now staring back at the TV again.

“What about you?” You asked. “Do you wanna be a mom someday?” Eli didn’t react right away, simply staying quiet for a few more seconds after that. You was used to that by now, and she had grown accustomed to the thoughtful expression Eli wore any time she was left considering a question that didn’t have a simple answer.

“I don’t really know,” she eventually admitted. “If I’m being entirely honest… I always sort of assumed that I would already be a mother by this point in my life.”

“Really?” You asked, and Eli nodded.

“It was something Nozomi and I had discussed quite a bit. We both agreed about wanting children, and probably sooner rather than later. But after I lost her… That obviously uprooted that whole plan. And I was alone for so long after that, I think that whole idea just sort of… Faded off entirely. I became fairly certain, then, that I was never going to end up having a family, or being a mother.”

“And you were alright with that?” You asked. Once more Eli went quiet for a few seconds, but this time You recognized the expression on her girlfriend’s face as something far different. This wasn’t the look Eli gave when she was thinking about a hard question, trying to determine an uncertain answer. This was the look she gave when she already knew the answer, the moment the question had been asked, but simply didn’t want to say it. As with most of Eli’s mannerisms, You was quite familiar with it by now.

“Well,” she said, moving in a little bit closer to Eli, pressing up against her just a bit more. “You don’t have to keep thinking like that now. You’re not alone anymore.”

“You Watanabe,” Eli said, laughing softly. “Are you saying you want to have children with me?”

“I don’t wanna get ahead of ourselves like that,” You replied, laughing as well as she spoke. “But I’m just saying someday, if we reach that point… Being the cool aunt is great and all. But if it was with the right person I guess having a kid or two of my own wouldn’t be so bad either.”

“One or two?” Eli asked. “I’m going to want at _least_ five, probably more.”

“Now you’re pushing it.” Eli merely laughed at that, draping her arm around You’s shoulder to pull her in even closer still.

“Well, that’s not something we have to think about too much at this point anyway. That’s probably still quite a way off.”

“Unless I get you knocked up by accident,” You snickered.

“Call me crazy,” Eli replied, “but I don’t think that’s really a risk for us.”

* * *

The rest of the evening was spent in relative peace, Eli and You simply sitting on the couch together, watching the TV, switching between channels as their interest in different shows started to wane. It was just a little bit shy of midnight when they finally heard a car pulling up into the driveway outside, followed by the sound of the front door opening up a minute or so later. Just after that Dia and Kanan came into the living room, Dia hanging rather dramatically from Kanan’s shoulders, and You gave them a very stern look as they entered.

“Just where have you two been?” she scolded. “Eli and I were worried sick about you.”

“Sorry,” Kanan snickered back, shifting her grip around her wife’s waist to keep Dia propped up against her. “ _Somebody_ got into a little bit too much wine over dinner.”

“Watanabe-san. Ayase-san,” Dia interjected, slurring her words a bit as she spoke. “I apologize for our t… LLLLateness.”

“Is she alright?” Eli asked.

“She gets weirdly formal when she’s drunk don’t worry about it,” You replied. “Hey Dia, how many posters of Eli did you have in your room when you were younger?”

“F… Four… No. Five,” Dia declared.

“She gets really honest when she’s drunk too.”

“I- I see,” Eli replied, her own face flushing a bit now as well.

“I should probably get her to bed before she gets into any trouble,” Kanan laughed, starting to usher her inebriated wife across the room. “Kotone didn’t give you any trouble, it seems?”

“Nope,” You replied. “We put her down to sleep a few hours ago and she’s been out peacefully ever since.”

“Awesome. Thanks again for doing this, you guys. You have no idea how badly me and Dia needed a night out.”

“It was our pleasure,” Eli chimed in, finally starting to lift herself up from the couch. You shut off the TV, before following after her. “It was lovely to get to spend some time with Kotone-chan.”

“I’m glad you guys had a good time. We’re still on for brunch tomorrow too, right?” Kanan asked.

“Depends how early you can get that one out of bed,” You laughed back, gesturing towards Dia. “And how much of a hangover she’s rocking.”

“Kanan-chan,” Dia blurted out, rather suddenly. “I’ve just realized something vvvv-very important.”

“Oh have you now?” Kanan asked, smirking down at her wife. “And what would that be?”

“If Kotone-chan is asleep… We need to enter our bedroom veeeeery quietly.”

“We sure do,” Kanan chuckled. “Good catch, babe. I’ll see you guys tomorrow, alright?”

“Will do!” You replied.

“I’ll be looking forward to it,” Eli added on. With that You and Eli started to leave the house and head back out to You’s dad’s truck, which they had borrowed and parked in the driveway, leaving Kanan to deal with her wife and, presumably, her baby as well. They stepped out into the cool of the night, You digging her keys out of her pocket to open up the truck, and she climbed up into the driver’s seat while Eli got into the passenger seat alongside her. Just as You fit the key into the ignition she head Eli speak up, and she looked over towards her girlfriend as the truck’s engine hummed to life.

“It seems like they have a lovely little family in there,” Eli said.

“Yeah,” You agreed. “It does.” And while she didn’t comment on it out loud, it made her smile just a bit to think that someday she might have a family like that as well.


End file.
